Real-life ghost hunters

Lee Steele of Graham likes to be called a 'paranormal investigator' and credits the team for any success they have in tracking down paranormal experiences.

Photo submitted

By Steve Huffman / Special to the Times-News

Published: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 at 05:28 PM.

Lee Steele said in real life, ghost hunting is different from those television shows where hunters uncover evidence of the supernatural almost 100 percent of the time.

“It’s like going fishing,” said Steele, who prefers to be known as a paranormal investigator and not a ghost hunter. “Sometimes you get a big haul, and other times you hardly get a bite.”

Steele, 57, a Graham native and resident, is research investigator with Positively Paranormal, a Liberty-based organization whose members go in search of proof of the hereafter.

Or at least go looking to try and figure out why things go bump in the night.

They’ve staged investigations at former nursing and funeral homes, at downtown Burlington’s Paramount Theatre (a spirit there, Steele said, turned on a flashlight to prove its existence), and spent time aboard the USS North Carolina in Wilmington, where they got a tape recording of what they believe is a spirit speaking.

On the tape, Steele can be heard announcing that the temperature is 74.9 degrees. When he played the tape back when the night was done, quite clearly a voice — from the hereafter, Steele believes — can be heard asking, “What are you reading?”

Lee Steele said in real life, ghost hunting is different from those television shows where hunters uncover evidence of the supernatural almost 100 percent of the time.

“It’s like going fishing,” said Steele, who prefers to be known as a paranormal investigator and not a ghost hunter. “Sometimes you get a big haul, and other times you hardly get a bite.”

Steele, 57, a Graham native and resident, is research investigator with Positively Paranormal, a Liberty-based organization whose members go in search of proof of the hereafter.

Or at least go looking to try and figure out why things go bump in the night.

They’ve staged investigations at former nursing and funeral homes, at downtown Burlington’s Paramount Theatre (a spirit there, Steele said, turned on a flashlight to prove its existence), and spent time aboard the USS North Carolina in Wilmington, where they got a tape recording of what they believe is a spirit speaking.

On the tape, Steele can be heard announcing that the temperature is 74.9 degrees. When he played the tape back when the night was done, quite clearly a voice — from the hereafter, Steele believes — can be heard asking, “What are you reading?”

“We get something there almost every time,” Steele said of the visits he and his cohorts have made to the World War II battleship.

Steele graduated from Graham High School in 1974 and from Elon College in 1978. He has over the years worked at plumbing and hardware stores, as well as taken on various other endeavors.

“This, that and a little bit of everything,” is how he describes his employment history.

Steele was raised a Baptist, but said from an early age he wanted to learn more about the supernatural.

“I was always interested in North Carolina ghost stories,” he said.

Steele said that when he was about 10, he was visiting relatives at their house in the Hawfields community. It was an old house, and Steele climbed the steps to a second-floor landing where he heard children giggling and calling his name.

Steele thought at first it was his cousins, but discovered that wasn’t the case, and the source of the voices and laughter remains a mystery.

“That got me more interested,” he said of his desire to try and explain what can’t always be explained.

Like a lot of Alamance County residents of his generation, Steele as a teenager used to drive through the old Glencoe Mill Village, long before the current owners revived and restored the community. Steele believes he saw something resembling a zombie there one evening.

He’s investigated the Devil’s Tramping Ground in Chatham County, taken a look at Chapel Hill’s Gimghoul Castle, and even explored mysteries of the Gibsonville Cemetery.

Steele and his sidekicks are always on the prowl for more supernatural sites to explore.

The other members of Positively Paranormal include Matt Shelar of Liberty, the team leader, and High Point’s Brian Martin, the lead investigator. Others often join them on their investigations.

Steele said that as research investigator, his job is to check the history of a site before he and others involve themselves in an investigation. They always get permission of the property owners before going onto a site.

Steele said believing or not believing in the paranormal is like most things in life — a choice an individual makes. Deciding exactly what it is that haunts a site, well, that’s hard to say.

“God has his angels,” Steele said. “The devil has his demons. They’re all fighting for the control of men’s souls.”

Members of Positively Paranormal don’t charge for their services. They have a prayer asking for protection before they commence, and end their activities with a prayer.

Steele said the first stop of any investigation is to try and prove the supernatural isn’t involved.

“We look for a logical explanation for whatever is going on,” he said.

If that doesn’t work, investigators move to phase II, which is seeking to prove whether the paranormal is involved. The more documentation they get, the more likely they are, Steele said, to prove the presence of the supernatural.

For instance, if a demonic spirit is present, Steele said, it’s likely to present itself as a child.

The equipment investigators use includes a meter that reads electromagnetic radiation (the light goes from green to red if an apparition is present) and a “ghost box,” an AM/FM radio altered to skip channels and create white noise a spirit can manipulate to answer questions.

At least that’s how members of Positively Paranormal explain it. Again, it’s up to an individual to decide whether he or she wants to believe.

Steele is convinced there’s something out there that humans can’t explain.

“I tell people there’s a God, but I believe in the devil, too,” he said.

For more information about Positively Paranormal, call Lee Steele at 336-684-9984 or Matt Shelar at 336-772-0781, or find the organization on Facebook by typing keywords “Positively Paranormal Team.”